ACC ~ Revelation 18 v2

THE HAUNT OF EVERY FOUL SPIRIT. OECUMENIUS: “Fallen is Babylon,” it says. He openly announces the sentence of condemnation that God has rendered against it. He has decreed, it says, that it should suffer these things. “It has become a dwelling place of demons.” For as those who hate humankind and are desirous of blood, these wicked demons search out places in which the blood of people killed in warfare or in some other manner has been shed, and as though rejoicing at what has happened, they make their abode in such places. Therefore, since most will be killed in the city, as we have said, it finally becomes the “dwelling place of demons and a haunt of every foul spirit,” since the place safeguards the hedonistic lifestyle of the demons in it. “And a haunt of every foul bird and every unclean beast,” it says. For such animals flee the abode of people and take possession of abandoned places, keeping them free from those who intend them harm and hunt wild animals. The prophet Isaiah also said something like this concerning Babylon: “And sirens will rest there, and demons will dance there, and satyrs will dwell there, and hedgehogs will make their nests in their houses.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 18.1-3.

COLLAPSED FROM THE HEINOUSNESS OF ITS TRANSGRESSIONS. PRIMASIUS: If [the city] has fallen, how can it be said to be a habitation and refuge for demons and for unclean spirits and birds? Because by collapsing from the great heinousness of its transgressions, it showed itself to be worthy as a habitation for demons. … In addition, that city that in the sea of this world repeatedly rose up against the faith of Christ through the forceful waves of persecutions, now groans in the restraint of more narrow limits and growls as though enclosed in a wineskin. For this reason, we sing in the psalm, “He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses.”… That iniquitous spirits can be symbolized by birds is indicated in that passage of the book of Genesis, which reports that Abraham drove away birds that were swooping down upon the carcasses [of sacrificial animals]. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 18.2.

BABYLON IS THE CITY OF CONFUSION. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: Can the ruins of a single city contain every unclean spirit or every foul bird, or at the time when a city falls, is the whole world made devoid of impure spirits and birds so that they inhabit the ruins of a single city? There is no city that contains every unclean soul except the city of the devil, in which every uncleanness dwells in wicked persons throughout the whole earth. Those whom it calls “kings” because they persecute Jerusalem are evil people who persecute the church of God. … Whenever you hear the name Babylon, do not think of it as a city made of stones, for “Babylon” means “confusion.” Rather, understand that the name signifies those people who are arrogant, robbers, dissolute and impious, and who persevere in their wickednesses. … Whenever you hear the name Jerusalem, which refers to the vision of peace, understand that it refers to persons who are holy before God. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 18.2, HOMILY 15-16.

IMPURE SPIRITS INHABIT PLACES OF DESOLATION. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: Something similar to this was foretold in Isaiah about the Chaldean capital city of Babylon when it was captured by Cyrus and the Persians, namely, that it would be filled with beasts and impure spirits on account of its utter desolation.For it is the habit of beasts and of evil demons to stalk in arid places. This is due both to the divine economy, which frees people from their harm, and their own dislike of humankind. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 18.2-3.

THE CITY OF THE DEVIL CONTAINS EVERY UNCLEAN SPIRIT. BEDE: “O Jerusalem,” it says, “do not fear the power of the earthly city, which collapses from that very thing by which it subjugated you through the hatred of its wicked citizens.” Isaiah also describes Babylon as inhabited by impure monsters. For there is no other city than that of the devil, which receives every unclean spirit and in which every impurity remains throughout the world. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 18.2.

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